“The city obviously is looking at next steps with how we deal with the number one polluter in the city which is our steam heat system for downtown, and we need to get that off of fossil fuels and onto renewable energy.”

It was a joint proposal by the city and developer Ian Gillespie’s company “Creative Energy.”

It would have provided heat and hot water in new buildings from wood waste instead of natural gas.

The proposal is related to Vision’s controversial goal to ban fracked natural gas by 2050.

“We want to see these renewable district energy systems in the future, we have been working hard to create more than the existing one that heats and cools the Olympic Village neighbourhood. We will be looking at next steps to advance this initiative,” says Robertson.

The Utilities Commission says it could not support giving Creative Energy a monopoly on heat and hot water supply for new buildings in the Northeast False Creek and Chinatown neighbourhoods.